Bill Gates: Global Health is Humanity's Challenge

The world "is failing billions of people" and must act more aggressively to fight disease and reduce inequity, Bill Gates told health ministers from 192 countries at the World Health Assembly on May 16.

Bill Gates told the World Health Assembly that both rich and poor countries need to do much more to solve the crisis of global public health. © WHO

Gates announced a new $250 million commitment from his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has an endowment of $28 billion, for its Grand Challenges global health research initiative. So far, the foundation has committed a total of $4.9 billion to global health grantees, he said.

"In my view—and there is no diplomatic way to put this—the world is failing billions of people. Rich governments are not fighting some of the world's most deadly diseases because rich countries don't have them. The private sector is not developing vaccines and medicines for these diseases, because developing countries can't buy them. And many developing countries are not doing nearly enough to improve the health of their own people," Gates said.

He called for stepped-up action by governments to improve global health, more scientific research to develop solutions for diseases in developing countries, and market incentives to encourage private sector investment in "the discovery and delivery of health tools for the developing world."

"There is no bigger test for humanity than the crisis of global health," Gates said.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Mirta Roses said during the assembly that she supported Gates' call to action, "especially the need to reduce health inequities and to involve governments and the private sector, in both developed and developing countries, in researching, designing, and delivering the health interventions we need to save lives."

Roses also said that the priorities cited by Gates are important for improving health among the poorest populations and poorest countries, but "so is his optimism, compassion, and fresh outlook to help us change the sad situation of people dying from preventable causes."

Gates said that solving the crisis of global health will require "the full commitment of our hearts and minds."

"Without compassion, we won't do anything; without science, we can't do anything. So far, we have not applied all we have of either. I am optimistic that in the next decade, people's thinking will evolve on the question of health inequity. People will finally accept that the death of a child in the developing world is just as tragic as the death of a child in the developed world. And the expanding capacities of science will give us the power to act on that conviction. When we do, we have a chance to make sure that all people, no matter what country they live in, will have the preventive care, vaccines, and treatments they need to live a healthy life. I believe we can do this, and if we do, it will be the best thing humanity has ever done."